Means for recoring wire rope



Nov. 21, 1961 c. F. HANSEN MEANS FOR RECORING WIRE ROPE Filed Aug. 23, 1956 INVENTOR. 6948155 F flmmw WWW United States Patent M 3,009,307 MEANS FOR RECORING WIRE ROPE Charles F. Hansen, P.O. Box 9, Alton, Calif. Filed Aug. 23, 1956, Ser. No. 605,755 3 Claims. (Cl. 573.5)

This invention relates to a method of and means for replacing the core strand of a stranded wire rope.

Frequently the core strand of wire or steel rope wears or is damaged while the outside or peripheral strands remain in useable condition. In such a case the wire rope can be improved by removing the core strand and replacing it with a new undamaged and unworn strand. Another instance where it is desirable to replace core strands in a wire rope is where the core of a particular wire rope is made of hemp or fiber and it is desirable to replace it with a core composed of steel or wire.

This invention more particularly relates to an improvement of the art of recoring in the class as shown in the applicants United States Patent No. 2,552,673 entitled, Means for Interchanging Cores in Wire Rope.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus which can simply and economically be used to simultaneously remove and replace the core strand of a wire rope.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method which enables the core of a rope to be removed and a new core to be inserted simultaneously with the removal of the old core as the rope is pulled past a fixed station.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rope recoring assembly in which the rope is stretched in a straight length and rotated while it is pulled past a rope distranding station so that the rope will not kink or knot during the recoring operation.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a rope distranding member arranged to be driven between the strands of rope, without the necessity of unwinding the rope, and thereafter installed in a fixed position for recoring. This feature allows the rope distranding member to be forced into the rope while the rope is positioned in -a convenient location. The distranding member can then, while interposed between strands, be mounted in a fixed position for the recoring operation.

A still further feature of the invention is the provision of a guide member which positions the incoming new core to prevent it snagging or tangling with the peripheral strands of the rope.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section of conventional wire rope.

FIG. 2 is a view of a rope recoring tool in position to be inserted between strands of rope and an apparatus for holding the rope to enable the tool to be so positioned.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the recoring apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an enlarged fragmentary portion of the recoring apparatus at the recoring station.

FIG. 5 is an elevation of FIG. 4 taken at line 55.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown in FIG. 1 a conventional wire rope formed of siX peripheral strands 15 and a core strand 17. In the conventional rope the peripheral strands are formed of steel wide and the core strand 17 may be formed of either steel wire or fiber or hemp material. By the method and means of this invention the old core strand 17 is removed and a new strand is replaced in its stead. The new strand will hereinafter be designated by the reference numeral 18.

3,009,307 Patented Nov. 21, 1961 Rope A is first placed in a vice 21 as indicated in FIG. 2. A rope distranding tool or pin such as a modified marline spike 22 having a tapered tip 23 is then forced between the peripheral strands 15 to cause a distranding of the rope A. The core 17 is then pulled sufficiently from the center of rope A to allow the core to be severed, if necessary, or pulled from engagement with the head portion 25 of rope A held in vice 21. Thereafter a new strand 18 is inserted through the distranded opening into the center of the head portion 25 of rope A.

Rope A is then removed from vice 21 with the marline spike 22 in place in the rope. The marline spike and rope are then placed between two vertical members 28 and 29. The marline spike 22 is arranged horizontally or normal to the two members 28 and 29 and is fitted into a concave notch 31 formed complementary with the spike 22 in each of the members 28 and 29. The notches 31 provide a means to hold the marline spike 22 in a fixed position. A leaf spring 32 is mounted on each of the members 28 and 29 over notches 31 to hold the spike in the notches.

The spike 22 and the two members 28 and 29 form a distranding station B. The head 25 of rope A is attached by a swivel joint mechanism 33 to a tractor C. The swivel j-oint mechanism 33 in the embodiment shown comp-rises a chain, however it is understood that other swivel connectors can also just as conveniently be used. The trailing end 36 of rope A is attached by a swivel joint connector 38 of the same type as swivel connector 33 to a weighted member or slidably movable anchor 40. When tractor C pull-s the rope the weight provided by anchor 40 keeps the tail of rope A taut and substantially straight to prevent kinking or knotting of the rope while the two swivel connectors 33 and 38 allow the rope to rotate while maintained in the taut, straight condition.

At the distranding station B new strand 18 passes on one side of marline spike 22 and the old strand 17 is arranged to pass on the other side of the spike as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A new strand guide member 43 is formed with a guide ring 46 of spiral shaped con-figuration which is arranged to receive strand 18 and hold the strand in a position to control the alignment of the strand with respect to rope A as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 so that the new strand enters through the distranded peripheral strands.

Upon movement of the tractor as indicated by arrow 49 the head 25 of rope A is pulled away from the distranding staation B. When this happens the rope is forced to rotate with the turns or twists of the rope strands by virtue of the force effect of the stationarily mounted marline spike 22 acting against the strands. The new core strand 18 is pulled along with the head of the rope 25 and the strand 17 is guided outwardly from the center of the rope by the marline spike. Thus during movement of the tractor the new core 18 is forced into the center at the distranded section of rope created by marline spike 22 and the old core strand 17 is pulled out of the center. Both of these occur substantially simultaneously in the momentarily distranded section formed by spike 22 at distranding station B. When substantially all the rope except the last bit of the tail end of rope A has been recored, swivel connector 38 is disconnected and tractor C can continue to pull the rope through distranding station thus completely recoring the rope.

During this operation guide 46 positions the incoming core 18 to a position where it is relatively freed from engagement with the peripheral strands 15. The adjustment and positioning of the guide ring 46 may be accomplished by bending the arm 43 as the opening between distranded strands 15 to the center of the rope requires. The best adjustment is where the new strand is guided so that it is enabledto center between peripheralstrands.

15 without touching the strands until the new strand is in the center of the rope. This can best be found by trial and error in the first instance but thereafter only minor adjustment is necessary as the relative relationship between strand opening and guide 46 remains substantially constant for all rope.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

It is claimed:

1. A device to remove a worn core strand from a length of wire rope while simultaneously replacing the worn core strand with a new strand comprising; a pin arranged to be inserted into the rope to distrand peripheral strands of the rope and provide an access through which one end of the old core strand is enabled to pass out from the center of the trailing end of the rope and the new core strand is enabled to pass into the center of the rope towards the head of the rope, a pair of spaced apart vertical members, means on at least one of said members to mount said pin against rotation with the pin being disposed against each of said members while said pin is in the rope with the head end of the rope passing between the vertical members, rope pulling means to pull the rope from the head end of the rope, and swivel means connecting the pulling means with the rope to allow the rope to rotate while being pulled whereby the force of said rope against said pin during movement past said pin causes the rope to rotate and said pin to wedge the old core out of the rope while the new core is drawn into the center of the rope,

2. A device to remove a worn core strand from a length of wire rope while simultaneously replacing the worn core strand with a new strand comprising; a fixed pin arranged to be inserted into the rope to distrand peripheral strands of the rope and provide an access through which one end of the old core strand is enabled to pass out from the center of the trailing end of the rope and the new core is enabled to pass into the center of the rope towards the head of the rope, a pair of spaced apart vertical members, means on at least one of said members to mount said pin against rotation with the pin being disposed against each of said members while said pin is in the rope with the head end of the rope passing between the vertical members, rope pulling means, swivel means connecting the pulling means with the rope to allow the rope to rotate while being pulled whereby the force of said rope against said pin during rope movement past said pin causes the rope to rotate and said pin to wedge the old corerout of the rope while the new core is drawn into the center of the rope, and fixed guide means for positioning the new core strand to enter into the center of the rope without snagging on the peripheral strands of the rope.

3. A device to remove a worn core strand from a length of wire rope while simultaneously replacing the worn core strand with a new strand comprising; a pin arranged to be inserted into the rope to distrand peripheral strands of the rope and provide an access through which one end of the old core strand is enabled to pass out from the center of the trailing end of the rope and the new core strand is enabled to pass into the center of the rope towards the head of the rope, a pair of spaced apart vertical members, means on at least one of said members to mount said pin against rotation with the pin being disposed against each of said members while said pin is in the rope with the head end of the rope passing between the vertical members, rope pulling means to pull the rope from the head end of the rope, swivel means conmeeting the pulling means with the rope to allow the rope to rotate while being pulled whereby the force of said rope against said pin during rope movement past said pin causes the rope to rotate and said pin to wedge the old core out of the rope while the new core is drawn into the center of the rope, fixed guide means for positioning the new core strand to enter into the center of the rope without snagging on the peripheral strands of the rope, and means to keep the trailing end position of the rope substantially straight while the rope is being drawn past said pin, said means pivotally connected to said rope to allow free rotation thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,584,365 Fuller May 11, 1926 2,342,163 Orwell Feb. 22, 1944 2,484,055 Shepard Oct. 11, 1949 2,552,673 Hansen May 15, 1951 2,794,313 Colliver et a1. June 4, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 837,040 France Oct. 25, 1938 

